Electric cord housing



Jan. 15, 1952 H. v. MARTIN ELECTRIC CORD HOUSING Filed April 9, 1946 //4 fine) M47727;

Patented Jan. 15, 1952 UNITED 's'mrrls PATENT emcs I ELECTRIC CORD HOUSING Homer V. Martin, Lincoln, Nebr. Application April-9, 1946, Serial No. 6603626 This invention relates to housings for excess electric cord between a portable piece of electric equipment and the outlet. The principal object of the invention is to provide a housing which will store a variable and chosen amount of the excess wire or cord and thus avoid abrasion or kinking of the balance of the electric light cord. In many cases this excess forms somewhat of a hazard and by being stepped on, might cause a short circuit and is therefore an ever-present danger.

A further object of the invention in to provide a reel on which an amount of a cord might be wound between the two ends of the cord without any kinking of the cord as would occur if the cord were wound about a spool r similar take-up, and this excess cord may let be out as desired, either entirely or in part as suggested by changed circumstances.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section through my device.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the tray section.

Figure 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a central transverse section through a modification.

As best seen in Figure 1, my housing consists of a tray section It, and'a cover. section H, the latter preferably being slightl deeper. The tray section carries integrally or otherwise a pair of guides about which a cord shown in Figure 2, and numbered I5, may be wound in the shape of a Figure 8, which will prevent kinking, whereas if the cord is wound without crossing, as on a spool shaped holder, the electric cord will take on a decided kink. Either the tray or the cover or both have openings it at each end for the passage of the end of the cord.

A preferred form of guide consists of a post I8 having an integral buttress I9 rounded both at its end 20 and at its top 22. Somewhat above the top of the buttress the post carries integral arms 23 which are curved at their tops 24 to agree with the curvature of the inside of the cover, whether this member is a single piece or is in two parts as in Figure 5. As best seen in Figure 4, the post and its two arms form the letter T, the arms preferably being curved or recessed as at 25 to accommodate the maximum number of coils of the wire.

While any of the well known means may be 2 Claims. (Cl.-24--71.2)

used for securing the cover to the traysection, -I prefer to insert in the post a threaded metal sleeve 28 to receive the screw 29 passing loosely through an opening 30 in the cover. I find it well to space the rounded end of the buttress 20 as far from the wall of the tray in the longitudinal direction, as the side of the buttress and post is from the lateral wall of the tray. This allows a very considerable space between the two posts or guides and permits the reeling of a very considerable length of the usual double electric wire such as commonly used with electric lamps.

In operation the tray is held in the hand and the wire is brought forward to one side of the near buttress and then to the far side and around the other buttress, each coil taking the form of a Figure 8. The curve of the retaining arms 2-5 materially prevent dislocation of the wire and provide maximum storage space. The cover engages the tops of the posts and is supported thereby. The tray may be made integral with the posts or these may be made separate and then be secured to the tray section. The sections of the device may be made of any suitable material, including wood, plastics, etc.

The coloring of the housing can be made to match the cord, the electric equipment, the carpeting or even the color scheme of the room. While the housing is preferably plain, it could readily be treated artistically.

As previously stated the cover section may be a single piece or it may be divided into two parts. It can be hinged or may slide on the tray. In Figure 5, for example, the cover is in two sections, each sliding freely away from the center but being limited in movement in the opposite direction by the lip 36 or by a mere central stop. The tray walls are rather low for the less the depth from the bottom to the top of the sides, the easier to wind a capacity amount of cord in the housing. The tray section Illa in Figure 5 is shown quite shallow, having a groove 31 to receive slidably the corresponding flange of the cover section, here in two similar pieces, Ila. When these two pieces are slid to the central position they abut and are held together by a spring catch 38. Especially with plastics I find it best to enlarge the wall thicknesses as at 39 where the cover and the tray are secured together by a sliding engagement.

What I claim is:

1. In a device for the housing of slack electric wire. an elongated tray section having a fiat bottom and a continuous lipped side wall, a curved cover section complementarily lipped and both sections together forming a housing rounded from side to side and at the two ends, a pair of guides rising from the tray and having near the top a pair of over-hanging cordretaining arms, said arms being curved to agree with the curvature of the cover and forming a support for the cover. and removable means for securin' the sections together to form a closed housing.

2. In a device for housing excess electric lamp cord between the outlet and the lamp or other electric equipment, an elongated shallow tray having an upstanding wall with notches at each end of the tray, 9, post rising from the tray near each notched end, a buttress extending from each post toward the proximate notch, retaining means extending laterally from the top of the post to retain coils of lamp cord wound about the two buttresses in the form of a Figure 8, a cover for the tray to enclose the re- 4 taining means, and removable means for restraining movement of the cover when the cover is closed to house the excess cord.

HOMER V. MARTIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 646,283 Heatly et al. Mar. 27 ,1900 1,012,328 Cope Dec. 19, 1911 1,090,129 Barnes Mar. 17, 1914 1,456,935 Richardson May 29, 192% 1,541,654 O'Brien Jan. 9, 1925 1,977,347 Namet Oct. 16, 1934 2,007,699 Wiebking July 9, 1935 2,102,094 Romig Dec. 19, 1937 2,160,961 Dorman June 6, 1939 2,184,363 Schultz et a1. Dec. 26, 1939 2,351,379 Wehringer June 13, 1944 2,470,320 Page May 17, 1949 

